In order to follow the turnover of (137)Cs in natural soils and estimate future trends in exposure of livestock, samples of natural surface soils were collected at 0-3 cm depth at 464 sites in 1995 and 463 sites in 2005 covering the country. In both cases the geographical pattern observed was similar to the original distribution from 1986, but the decline of (137)Cs activity in the surface soil...

Radon is a naturally occurring gas that seeps out of rocks and soil. Radon comes from uranium that has been in the ground since the time the earth was formed, and the rate of radon seepage is variable, partly because the amounts of uranium in the soil vary considerably. Radon flows from the soil into outdoor air and also into the air in homes from the movement of gases in the soil beneath homes...

The photolytic degradations of imidacloprid, carbofuran, diazinon, chlorpyrifos, pyridaben, propoxur, and esfenvalerate were independently compared in both moist (75% field moisture capacity at 0.33 bar) and air-dry microbially viable soils at 5 microg/g. All compounds were applied to sandy soil except for propoxur, which was applied to sandy loam soil. Diazinon was applied to both sandy soil a...

Nonpoint source (NPS) watershed projects often fail to meet expectations for water quality improvement because of lag time, the time elapsed between adoption of management changes and the detection of measurable improvement in water quality in the target water body. Even when management changes are well-designed and fully implemented, water quality monitoring efforts may not show definitive res...

Soils lie at the interface between the atmosphere and the subsurface and are a key component that control ecosystem services, food production, and many other processes at the Earth's surface. There is a long-established convention for identifying and mapping soils by texture. These readily available, georeferenced soil maps and databases are used widely in environmental sciences. Here, we show ...

The parties are over, the hangovers have receded and, yes, we are into the year 2000. In the December 1999 issue of Greenkeeper International, I considered aspects of research on golf course agronomy through the last century. As we move into the new millennium it is appropriate to review the implications of current research projects and to identify some of the many areas where future work is ne...

This study evaluated the effectiveness of soils with different textures and thickness to treat BOD, N and P eluted from household septic effluent. The assessments were accomplished by leaching undisturbed soil monoliths of 30, 45 and 60 cm thickness and 25 cm in diameter, representing the four different textural groups and hydraulic loadings recommended by the Kentucky Health Department, with d...

In an extensive environmental study, field samples, including soil, water, rice, vegetable, fish, human hair and urine, were collected at an abandoned tungsten mine in Shantou City, southern China. Results showed that arsenic (As) concentration in agricultural soils ranged from 3.5 to 935 mg kg(-1) with the mean value of 129 mg kg(-1). In addition, As concentration reached up to 325 microg L(-1...

Bioventing has emerged as one of the most cost-effective in situ technologies available to address petroleum light-hydrocarbon spills, one of the most common sources of soil pollution. However, the major drawback associated with this technology is the extended treatment time often required. The present study aimed to illustrate how an intended air-injection bioventing technology can be transfor...

The thermal conductivity of dry soils is related closely to air pressure and the contact areas between solid particles. In this study, the thermal conductivity of two-phase soil systems was determined under reduced and increased air pressures. The thermal separation of soil particles, i.e., the characteristic dimension of the pore space (d), was then estimated based on the relationship between ...